Opportunity Knocks
by MegTDJ
Summary: An AU missing scene from Window of Opportunity - What would Daniel have done if he'd been stuck in the time loop instead of Teal'c, and could do anything he wanted without consequences? (DanJan)
1. Part 1

Title: Opportunity Knocks  
Status: Complete  
Author: MegTDJ  
Email: master@gateview.ca  
Category: AU missing scene (if such a thing exists); romance; humour; angst  
Rating: PG  
Pairing: Daniel/Janet  
Spoilers: Forever in a Day; Upgrades; Window of Opportunity.  
Archive: Gateview; Dan&Jan Archive; Fanfiction.net; anywhere else, please ask permission  
Feedback: Yes, please!  
Disclaimer: No copyright infringement is intended. I'm just a major fan of the show!  
Summary: An AU missing scene from Window of Opportunity - What would Daniel have done if he'd been stuck in the time loop instead of Teal'c, and could do anything he wanted without consequences?

Author's Notes: This fic is a result of the challenge issued by *ses* on the DanandJan Yahoo list to write a fic showing what Daniel would have done if he'd been stuck in the time loop in Window of Opportunity. And, of course, it was inspired by Michael Shanks' answer to the same question when he was asked it at a convention a while back - "If Dr. Janet was lurking about, you'd have to see!" ;)

*Many thanks to Lady Anne for the wonderful beta job (if anything's wrong with this fic, it's because I didn't listen to her advice - bad me!); to Red for her wonderful advice that cleared my brain when I was stumped; to Karen and all of the "night crew" for their support and encouragement (*hugs* to all of you!); and to everyone at the DanandJan Yahoo group for keeping the Dan/Jan ship alive! Woo hoo! :)

  


*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

  


**Opportunity Knocks**

  


Part 1

  
Loop number... what was it now? Daniel wracked his brain trying to remember, but finally had to give up. He had officially lost count.

He leaned back in his chair and sighed, taking off his glasses and rubbing his face. He had spent as many hours out of each loop as he could working on translating the alien text from the time loop device, and while he had made significant progress, there was still a lot left to do. 

Jack had initially offered his assistance out of a somewhat misguided idea that he could help, but Daniel now worked alone. Growing increasingly tired of Jack's inability to concentrate and tendency to start juggling wadded up balls of paper every time the archaeologist's back was turned, Daniel had finally brought up the fact that no matter what they did everything would return to the way it was before at the beginning of each new loop. They could essentially do whatever they wanted to do without worrying about consequences.

Once this idea had sunk in, Jack had jumped at the opportunity, and, for a few loops at least, so had Daniel. Neither of them had crossed the line and done anything _too_ over-the-top, though Daniel had felt a momentary rush of guilt after he had disclosed classified information to a civilian without permission. Still, he had enjoyed hearing his old rival Steven Raynor stutter and gasp when Daniel had called him to announce that he had found proof that aliens really _did_ build the pyramids and had gone on to spell it out for him in no uncertain terms. Jack had backed him up on it, and afterwards the two men had burst out laughing and high-fived each other, Jack obviously just as happy as Daniel that his friend had finally had the chance to rub someone's nose in the fact that he had been right all along after the way he had been treated years earlier.

Daniel had also taken the opportunity to indulge himself in an entire baker's dozen of his favourite chocolate-walnut cookies in one sitting, thus getting the satisfaction of pigging out but avoiding the stomachache it would otherwise have caused. He had finally taken Sam up on her long-standing offer of a motorcycle ride through the Rockies, much to Sam's surprise, knowing that even if they rode right off the edge of the mountain, he'd still wake up safe and sound at the beginning of the next loop... at least, if the movie Groundhog Day was anything to go by. He had helped Jack to make prank phone calls to the White House, finding the activity much more entertaining than he thought he would. And, for a few loops in a row, he and Jack had discovered every single way a person can sneak out of the base, each time heading straight for the nearest Baskin-Robbins and finally getting to sample every last one of their 31 flavours.

For a short time, Daniel had felt as free and easy as a rebellious child, something he had never experienced in his entire life. Before long, however, he had grown tired of their antics and returned to work on the translation. He didn't mind that Jack continued to take advantage of each loop - in fact, he welcomed the solitude, as he was better able to concentrate when he worked alone.

Until, that is, a certain something began to happen. In every loop at the exact same time, he'd hear...

Rap-a-tap-tap. "Daniel?"

Right on time.

"Hey, Janet," Daniel greeted her with a tiny smile.

"Hey. I'm not disturbing you, am I?"

'Much more than you know,' he thought wryly. Aloud he said, "No, not at all. Come in."

Janet stepped hesitantly into the office, looking around at the blackboards filled with half-translated text and the books that littered his desktop. "So..." 

"Wait... before you say anything..." Daniel interrupted, "you came to see how I was doing because you're concerned about Jack's reckless behaviour, and you wanted to make sure the two of us weren't just going crazy or something."

Janet looked at him in surprise.

"We've... had this conversation before," Daniel told her sheepishly.

"Right. Of... course we have." Janet tapped her finger absently on the book Daniel had open before him, drawing his attention to the fact that she had come to stand very, very close to him as he spoke.

He cleared his throat to break the sudden silence. "Yeah. So, if you don't mind, I really have a lot of work to do, and I'd like to get back to it," he said as politely as he could.

"Of course." She shot him an odd look, but took a step toward the door. "I'll leave you to it." 

Daniel closed his eyes and winced as she began walking away, knowing what was coming.

Suddenly, Janet turned around, took Daniel's chin in her hand, and tilted his face so that he was forced to make eye contact with her. 

'I _really_ wish she wouldn't do that,' Daniel thought, his heart racing.

"Do you promise me that _nothing_ else is going on here?" she asked, giving him her famous no-nonsense stare.

"I promise," Daniel said, though his voice came out as little more than a squeak.

"You're not experiencing any symptoms that you're not telling me about?"

'Well, just the one, but that's hardly relevant,' Daniel thought. Aloud he said as innocently as he could, "No, nothing."

"No alien devices affecting your behaviour?"

'Unless you count the time loop machine...' he thought, but he knew from experience that giving that answer would only keep him in this position longer than necessary, and she would end up shrugging it off anyway. "Nope."

"You're stuck in a time loop."

Daniel nodded as best he could while still caught in her firm grip. "Time loop."

There was a slight pause as Janet looked deep into his eyes as if trying to discover for herself whether or not he spoke the truth. At last, she released his chin but still held his gaze, nodding slowly. "Okay. Then I believe you."

Daniel gave her another tiny smile as she began to back away.

"Let me know if you need anything." With one more glance back at him from the doorway, Janet left the room.

As soon as her footsteps could no longer be heard in the hall, Daniel let out a heavy sigh and sagged in his chair. 'Well, that's over with for another loop,' he thought in relief. 

It wasn't that he hated the fact that Janet came to see him. Quite the opposite - he _liked_ it when she came to his office. For the past two years she had paid him fairly frequent visits, either to check on him after some injury or traumatic experience, or occasionally just for a friendly chat. Unfortunately, with her time loop visits being repeated over and over in such quick succession, Daniel had begun to find himself enjoying them just a little bit _too_ much. 

The first few times she had grabbed his chin and forced him to look her in the eyes, Daniel hadn't thought twice about it and had simply answered her questions then returned to his work. After a while, however, he had found himself gazing just a little too intently into the beautiful brown eyes before him. By about time number 8 or 9, he'd let his mind wander for a moment or two, taking in each curve of her face, the softness of her lightly browned skin that made him want to reach out and touch it, the way her lips moved as she spoke...

Then one fateful loop, Daniel had suddenly had a vision pop into his mind of her next act being to plant a kiss on him that would take his breath away. 

It was pretty much downhill after that. Each time she would enter the room, that pesky little thought would enter Daniel's brain, and by the time she would leave, he would be exhausted from the effort it took just to form a few coherent sentences. For a few loops he had tried to avoid the situation by leaving his office just before she was due to arrive, but each time she would search him out, and the same scene would play out no matter where they were. By loop number... whatever it was now, Daniel had finally had to admit it to himself - he had fallen madly in love with Janet Fraiser, and he didn't have a clue what to do about it.

Oh yes, Daniel thought with a plaintive sigh, he'd go so far as to use the word "madly." It had been sneaking up on him slowly for months now, but his recent reckless behaviour seemed to have made him more prone to giving into his baser instincts and less able to successfully stifle unwanted emotions. The result was that he had not only fallen in love with her wholly and completely, but he also had no wish to conceal it. 

Unfortunately, as Janet seemed to think of him as no more than a good friend, conceal it he must. He had no wish to risk adding a sense of strain to their friendship by letting her know how he felt and having her shoot him down or begin avoiding him because of it. 

Unless, of course, she _didn't_ shoot him down. Perhaps, if there was the tiniest of remote possibilities that she wouldn't... He let his mind wander back through time, trying to remember if she had ever given any indication that she could possibly, somehow, someday be at all interested in taking their relationship to the next level. Every memory he came up with, however, no matter how hard he tried, had to be eventually shrugged off as either having a rational explanation within the bounds of mere friendship or as pure imagination on his part. "This is ridiculous," he muttered. "Next thing you know, I'll have convinced myself that she got so heated with Anise because she somehow sensed that the snake 'likes' me and was jealous." He shuddered at that thought. 

Suddenly, the sound of a high-pitched bell ringing out in the hall broke Daniel out of his reverie. 

"Make way! Coming through!"

"Jack! What the..." Daniel stuttered as Jack rode into his office on a bicycle, coming to a somewhat ungraceful halt dangerously close to a very valuable artifact that was sitting on the floor by Daniel's desk.

"Hey, Daniel, how's it going?" he asked nonchalantly.

"You didn't seriously just ride that through the halls, did you?" Daniel asked in disbelief.

Jack hesitated a moment before replying. "Not seriously, no," he finally said, seeming pleased with his response.

Daniel was not in the mood to put up with Jack's hijinks at that moment, and the smirk on his face as he tried to scoot his way around Daniel's desk just made the archaeologist's anger rise to the surface. Jack was, to his mind, entirely responsible for Daniel's current predicament, after all. If it weren't for the way he was acting, Janet wouldn't feel the need to make her little house call, and Daniel would be able to do his work in peace. "Jack, do you _have_ to keep doing crazy things that other people can actually _see_? You're only making things more difficult for _me_, you know!"

"Well, pardon me for having some fun, Mr. 'We can do anything we want without consequences,'" Jack shot back without missing a beat. "This was your idea in the first place, in case you've forgotten."

Daniel sighed heavily. "Yeah, but could you _stop_ already?"

"Nope." Jack grinned. "I made a checklist."

"A checklist?" Daniel repeated doubtfully. "How?"

"Memorized it."

Daniel stared at him for a moment; then shook his head and decided not to even go there.

"I'm not gonna stop until I've done every last thing on the list," Jack said, concentrating hard on getting his bike to make a very tight turn around the corner of the desk.

"Uh huh."

Looking up at Daniel then, Jack obviously saw the dangerous look in the other man's eyes. "Or... until you've finished your translation, making it possible for the loop to finally be broken and life to return to normal," he added with a sheepish smile.

Daniel groaned and buried his face in his hands, leaning his elbows on the desktop. "Unfortunately that may take a _lot_ longer than I initially thought," he mumbled.

His forlorn attitude finally seemed to register with Jack. "Problems?" he asked, an edge of anxiety creeping into his tone.

"Big problems. Not with the translation, though... with my concentration."

"O...kay." 

Sighing again, Daniel decided to just 'fess up and be done with it. "It's Janet."

"What about her?" Jack pressed after a slight pause.

"Every loop at the same time, she comes in here to check up on me, and it's driving me to distraction." 

"Yeah, the doc'll have that effect on ya. For me it's that stupid penlight. I really hate that thing."

Daniel slowly raised his head to look up at him. "Not... that... kind of distraction," he said, his voice heavy.

Jack stared at him for a moment while this comment sank in.

Daniel raised his eyebrows significantly as he met his gaze.

"Oh." 

"Yeah." Daniel buried his face in his hands again, feeling wretched and miserable.

"Ole Doc Fraiser, eh?" Jack muttered thoughtfully.

A muffled moan escaped from Daniel's throat as he began to regret having shared this information with Jack. 'Great,' he thought mournfully, 'I'll never live _this_ one down.'

"So kiss her."

Daniel's head shot up in surprise at this statement, shooting Jack his best "Ex_cuse_ me?!" look. Whatever he'd been expecting him to say, it hadn't been _that_.

Jack countered with a look of pure innocence. "What?"

"I can't just... kiss her!" 

"Why not? You said yourself, no one's going to remember what you do by the time the next loop rolls around, right?"

"That doesn't make any difference..."

"Sure it does. You try it, and if she doesn't get majorly PO'ed about it you know she's interested. If she _does_ get majorly PO'ed... well, then you'll know never to try it again, won't you?" Jack grinned and slapped his friend on the shoulder.

Daniel merely stared at him open-mouthed. "You know, I'm beginning to think you really _are_ insane, Jack."

Jack considered this for a moment. "Why, thank you, Daniel," he said courteously; then he flashed him another grin and rode out of the room.

Daniel sat looking at the empty doorway for quite some time, wondering if his life would ever feel sane again.

~*~*~

  


On to Part 2


	2. Part 2

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

  


**Opportunity Knocks**

  


Part 2

  
'Don't think about it; don't think about it; don't think about it...' Daniel kept repeating the mantra to himself throughout the next loop's infirmary visit. Each loop had one, and each one was agonizing. Fortunately, most of Daniel's tests were administered by one of the nurses, and General Hammond and the rest of SG-1 were in the room the entire time. They asked him question after question about the time loop and what had caused it, and he answered as best he could while constantly keeping a wary eye on Janet's whereabouts. As usual, he escaped from the room as quickly as possible. He was determined to avoid being caught one-on-one with her there at any cost.

Once he was alone in his office he took to pacing, fighting an inner battle with himself over what he should do when Janet paid her little visit. His logical side told him to ignore Jack's crazy advice and get back to work on translating the alien text. His more reckless, rebellious side, however, seemed to think it was the best idea Jack had ever had. He wanted to know if Janet had feelings for him - what better opportunity to find out than a time loop? As Jack had pointed out, if she had no interest in him he could just go on being friends with her as though nothing had happened. If she did... well, he'd just have to cross that bridge if and when he came to it.

Still, something about the idea just didn't sit well with him. He had never been one to "make a move" on a woman unless he was one hundred percent sure that she would be okay with it. The very idea made his skin crawl and his palms sweat. But if she wouldn't remember... it was tempting, very tempting.

He was still pacing and fretting over his decision when he heard the now familiar sound - 

Rap-a-tap-tap. "Daniel?"

Daniel spun around to face her. "Janet... hi."

"Hi. I'm not disturbing you, am I?"

"Uh... yes, actually," he stammered, suddenly having flashbacks to his awkward teenage years. "I, uh... I think it would be best if you, uh... came back another time. Tomorrow... maybe."

Janet seemed undaunted and stepped into the room anyway. "Well, I'm not staying long. I just wanted to see how you were doing, what with..."

"I'm fine. Everything's fine. I'm..." He picked up a piece of chalk and turned to the blackboard beside him. "I'm right at a crucial point in this translation, though, so if you don't mind..."

"Right. Of course. I'm sorry to have interrupted. I'll... come back later."

"Good, thank you." Daniel stood with his back facing her, holding his breath and hoping that she would fall for his "I'm busy" act and leave.

Scarcely a second passed, however, before she was standing right behind him. She grabbed his arm, turned him around, and reached up to grab his chin.

Catching her wrist and not stopping to think twice, Daniel leaned down and captured her lips with his own.

_SLAP! _

Woops.

~*~*~

Daniel tapped his pen on the stack of books before him, darting yet another anxious look at the clock. She was due to arrive in less than five minutes, and he still hadn't figured out what he should do when she did. The slap he had received on the previous loop had brought him back down to Earth with a resounding thud, but he had yet to determine whether it had been worth it or not. 

On the one hand, he had gotten his wish - he had kissed Janet Fraiser, and for one brief moment, the world had been a magical place. Never had he imagined that her lips would be so soft, so warm, so sweet, so... so... _kissable_. Even though she hadn't returned it, she also hadn't resisted. This had left Daniel to drink his fill of the wonderful sensation of his lips pressed against hers, before he had broken the contact and she had given her none-too-gracious response. 

On the other hand, he had tried his experiment and had failed. She had slapped him, yelled at him, and marched away in indignation, so that must mean she wasn't interested in him. Right? 

Or did it? Some part of him felt he still had a chance. After all, that kiss had come out of nowhere, after he'd been so rude in trying to get her to leave. It was no wonder she'd reacted the way she had. Maybe she would react differently under different circumstances. What was the harm in trying just one more time?

Daniel shook his head in disgust at the way he was thinking. He knew better than to treat a human being as nothing more than a lab rat or some kind of toy that was there solely for his own entertainment. To treat Janet - kind, sensitive, considerate, compassionate, beautiful Janet - in such a manner was... was... it was inexcusable, to say the least. 'I can't believe I'm even _considering_ this! This is wrong, this is so very, very wrong...'

He had tried for the last hour to focus on his translations, but he just couldn't force his mind to concentrate. Every two minutes he'd glance at the clock, dreading the moment when he'd hear...

Rap-a-tap-tap. "Daniel?"

Taking a deep breath and forcing a brave smile, Daniel turned to greet his visitor. "Hey, Janet." 

"Hey. I'm not disturbing you, am I?"

"Um... no. Please, come in."

Keeping his voice as steady as possible, Daniel allowed the visit to progress in a somewhat natural manner, hoping against hope that he could just get through it and get back to his work. 

By the time she turned to go, he was feeling so calm and in control that he even dared to imagine that he was well on his way to being cured of his new fixation... until she once again took his chin in her soft little hand and turned his face to look directly into her own. Suddenly, Daniel's insides turned to jelly, and his resolve crumbled into a million pieces.

"Do you promise me that _nothing_ else is going on here?"

He gazed with longing into her lovely dark eyes, captivated by the way they seemed to dance and twinkle in the light from his desk lamp, and the way her long, thick eyelashes framed them so perfectly...

"Daniel?" Her voice snapped him out of his daydream, but did nothing to chase away the emotions that surged through his chest.

"I love you."

Stunned silence.

"What... did you just say?"

"I love you, Janet." May as well ride it out and see where it took him.

"You... do?"

"Very much," he said earnestly.

Janet backed away from him, looking confused and flustered. "Daniel... I don't know what's gotten into you and the colonel today, but time loop or no time loop... this is starting to scare me just a little."

"Wait, please don't go," Daniel begged, touching her arm to get her to stop moving.

"Daniel, either you take your hands off me, or I'll call for security," she said, her voice shaking. 

There was something in her eyes that wasn't just fear, however, and it made Daniel stare at her in surprise for a moment. Finally dropping his hand to his side, he watched as she walked away, hesitating at the door to glance back at him one last time before she disappeared from view.

Daniel wasn't sure what had just happened, but that glimmer of _something_ he'd seen in her eyes... could it have been wistfulness? Could it be that part of her had been yearning for his words to be true, while the rest of her felt that they were spoken by a man who was merely acting on a whim or an impulse? 

He was more determined than ever to find out.

~*~*~

For the next few loops, Daniel tried as many different ways as he could think of to find out whether Janet cared for him or not. Flowers and candy, romantic music, poetry... none of it made much of an impression. To her it was just one moment in one day, not the stepping stone to the next opportunity that it was for Daniel. Confessions of love and stolen kisses more often than not brought him slaps to the face, trips to the infirmary for follow-up tests, or peals of hearty laughter, depending on the circumstances involved. None of this managed to deter him. His conscience niggled away at him more and more with every one of his "experiments", but he pushed those thoughts aside and kept on going. There were, after all, scattered in amongst her less than heartening responses to his advances, more of her glorious, mysterious, indefinable hesitations that left him more desperate than ever to discover their meaning.

Unfortunately, Jack soon reached the end of his checklist, and his impulsive behaviour came to an end. As a result, Janet stopped coming. No longer did Daniel hear the friendly "rap-a-tap-tap" at his door, and while he was tempted to go in search of her, he held himself back from doing so. He tried to be content with his new found hope that one day, when this loop was finally broken, she might come to feel the same for him as he did for her. The seed was there; he was sure of it. It would just take a little time for it to grow.

Applying himself more earnestly than ever to the task of translating the last of the text, within two loops the work was done. He was finally able to figure out how to shut off the device and end the time loop forever... so why did part of him feel as though the most important task had been left unfinished?

~*~*~

  


On to Part 3


	3. Part 3

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

  


**Opportunity Knocks**

  


Part 3

  
Daniel watched Janet's every move during his final trip to the infirmary, a feeling of sadness and loss washing over him. She acted just the same as she ever had - except for the looks of concern she kept casting in his direction, which were no doubt due to his sorrowful expression and attitude of defeat and regret. For her it was as though no time had passed since she had woken up that morning, yet for him so much had changed. If SG-1's mission that afternoon was successful, life would begin again as though nothing had happened, and while Daniel would carry the memories of kisses, harsh words, and wistful glances, Janet would remain in ignorance about the entire thing. 

His guilt and regret were beginning to eat him alive.

He had betrayed and abused a precious friendship, and had failed to treat the woman he respected and admired above all others with the dignity and reverence she so justly deserved. He hated the man he had somehow become.

When she approached him at the end of his check-up, laying her hand on his shoulder and asking if he was okay in that quiet, sympathetic way he had always found so comforting and uplifting through the years, Daniel could literally feel his heart breaking and his spirits sinking even further into the depths of despair. He couldn't bring himself to meet her gaze as he mumbled that yes, he was fine. He crossed his fingers and hoped she wouldn't see his reply for the lie that it was. He was far from fine. All he wanted to do was take her in his arms, bury his face in her shoulder, and tell her how utterly ashamed and sorry he was for the way he had behaved towards her. Not being able to do so - not being able to make amends for something he had technically never done - was killing him, slow but sure.

Seeming to sense that he was holding something back, Janet gently told him to stop by her office before he left on the mission back to P4X 639 that General Hammond had just authorized. With the general and a dozen other people standing within earshot, Daniel could hardly refuse the order, so he took a deep breath and nodded silently, already feeling that familiar sense of dread creeping over him.

He got through the following briefing on autopilot, and before he knew it he was once again on his way back to the infirmary, clenching his fists nervously as he walked through the halls. For the first time in a long time, things were happening that had never happened before, and he had no idea what to expect out of this visit. He could only hope that it would be short and relatively routine, and that soon he would be as far away from her trusting, innocent face as the Stargate could take him.

Rap-a-tap-tap. "Janet?"

Janet looked up from the paperwork she was working on at her desk, and gave him a welcoming smile. "Hey, Daniel, come on in."

Folding his arms tightly against his chest, Daniel took a few hesitant steps into the office, being careful to avoid looking at the woman seated before him and to maintain a safe distance between them.

"Have a seat," she invited, indicating the two chairs that stood between her desk and the doorway. She rose from her own chair as she did so, stepping around the desk and coming towards him.

"It okay if I stand?" Daniel asked, his voice husky with emotion.

Janet stopped in her tracks for a moment, obviously noting his discomfort. "Sure. Whatever you want," she said; then, to Daniel's dismay, she walked past him and closed the door. She stood directly in front of him, folding her hands together and tossing her head back to look up at him. The look on her face showed that she meant business. "So. Are you going to tell me what's bothering you, or do I have to restrict you from going on this mission?"

The words were blunt, but her tone held the trace of tenderness and compassion that it always did when she spoke to him. 'Except when she was yelling at me for something she doesn't even remember now,' Daniel thought, berating himself even more than ever. He swallowed hard and stared down at the floor as he tried to think of something to say that could get him out of the situation as quickly as possible.

"I'm waiting."

He glanced at her for just a moment over the rims of his glasses before he went back to studying the floor. He opened his mouth to speak, but as he still had no idea what to say, no sound came out.

"Daniel, what's wrong?" Janet asked, sounding worried. She laid her hands on his still-folded arms and stroked them soothingly with her thumbs. "You can tell me."

Tears began to sting Daniel's eyes at the way she was touching him and speaking to him with such gentle warmth - warmth that he no longer deserved. He fought them back, shaking his head and keeping his eyes trained on the ground.

"I get the feeling there's something you _want_ to tell me," she said after a moment of deafening silence passed. "Am I right?"

Unable to keep himself from meeting her gaze any longer, Daniel's guilt finally overpowered him when he saw the way she was searching his face with concern and anxiety. He nodded; then he whispered earnestly, "I'm so sorry, Janet."

"Sorry?" she repeated in surprise. "For what?"

Daniel let out a deep breath, trying to calm his nerves. "I, uh..." His voice stuck in his throat as he struggled to find the words to say. Closing his eyes for a moment, he forced his rising emotions down into a place where they would no longer be threatening to choke him to death; then he gathered up all of his courage and resolved to tell her everything.

"I care about you, Janet," he confessed. "I care about you in a way that I didn't think was possible for me anymore. First you were just my doctor; then you were my friend; then somewhere along the way... you started to mean so much more to me. You've made a part of me that I thought was long dead come alive again." His voice had been hesitant and shaky at first, but it grew in strength and emotion as he continued. "I'm... I'm in love with you, Janet. I love you more with every passing minute, and even though only a matter of hours have passed for you today, for me it's been a _lot_ longer."

Janet stared at him open mouthed throughout this speech, but Daniel carried on, knowing that he would never work up the nerve to say this again if he stopped now. "When this time loop first began... these feelings were still so new that I barely even noticed they were there. Then Jack and I started doing these... crazy, impetuous things that we'd always wanted to do, simply because we could do them without suffering from consequences. That's when I started to realize how I felt about you, and I, uh... I guess I was trying to find out if you felt the same about me."

Pausing for a moment to take another deep breath, Daniel noticed the startled look that appeared on Janet's face at this statement. "Don't worry," he hastened to reassure her, "I didn't press my advantage or do anything... you know... but I _was_ playing games with your head, trying to steal a kiss or... maybe even find out ways to get you to fall in love with me. When nothing worked, instead of stopping I tried all the harder, and... to be honest, I made a complete jackass out of myself and treated you like some kind of guinea pig. I should never have done that, and I'm truly, truly sorry. 

"The thing is... even though I thought there wouldn't be any consequences, there _are_. I feel terrible for the way I acted, and I hate that you don't _know_ how I acted in order to judge for yourself how you want to respond to me now. I betrayed your trust, and that's something I just can't forgive myself for. I just... I guess I just needed to tell you that. I know you don't remember anything that's happened in any of the previous loops, but if what we're about to do actually works, then you _will_ remember what happens this time around. I couldn't live with myself if I just... went on my merry way, with you not knowing what a selfish, insensitive jerk I've been. 

"So you were right. There _was_ something I wanted to tell you. Now that I have, I won't blame you if you hate me, slap me, yell at me, whatever... just so long as you know what happened, and we can head into tomorrow on equal ground. I just... I love you and respect you too much to have this as my own little secret hovering between us." He ended his speech by taking a deep, shuddery breath, searching her face for a sign of what he could expect next. His words had tumbled out so rapidly that he had no idea whether they'd even been understandable.

He could see that Janet's expression had softened, and her eyes were glistening with unshed tears. "I don't hate you, Daniel," she said, her voice thick with emotions that Daniel couldn't read.

"You don't?"

She shook her head; then she reached up and pressed a soft kiss against his cheek. "Thank you for your honesty. And... apology accepted."

"Really?" he asked, his tone one of amazement and hope mixed together.

Janet gave him a small smile and nodded.

Daniel returned the tiny smile in relief, but soon grew serious again. "So... you forgive me? Even knowing what I did?" he asked, fearing that he had somehow misunderstood. 

"Was your apology sincere?" Janet asked quietly.

Every ounce of the sorrow, regret, and self-deprecation he was feeling was poured into one tiny little word as he answered, "Yes."

"Then I forgive you." 

Daniel stared at her for a moment as these words sank in. The weight of his guilt and shame began to slowly slip from his shoulders as they stood there gazing into each other's eyes. "Thank you," he said, his voice soft and quiet. It was then that he realized that "that look" was in her eyes once more. "Janet?" he said tentatively.

"Yes, Daniel?"

He gathered up all of his courage once again, knowing that if he blew it this time, his chances would be over forever. But that look... it had to mean what he thought it meant... didn't it? Now was the time to find out, once and for all.

"May I kiss you?" he asked in a voice that was no more than a whisper.

A flicker of a smile passed over Janet's face before she made her nervous but hopeful reply. "Yes, you may, Daniel."

Afraid that every move he made would turn out to be the wrong one, Daniel reached out his hand and touched her cheek almost reverently. He then leaned down and placed a gentle, chaste kiss on her lips. When he looked again into her eyes, he saw nothing but sweetness and a light of happiness looking back at him. "So, you're... you're really not... going to slap me this time?" he asked, not yet daring to hope that what he was experiencing was real.

Janet gave him a delightfully beautiful smile that made his heart start up an acrobatics routine. Shaking her head, she slowly wrapped her arms around his neck and drew his face down towards her own once again. 

~*~*~

She leaned her head against his shoulder as they sat together on a mountainside bench later that evening. They were gazing up at the starry sky, talking quietly about their past, their present, and their hopes for the future, and just enjoying each other's company. "So, I really slapped you, huh?" she asked in a teasing tone.

Daniel turned his head to brush his lips against her hair. "More than once," he replied, squeezing her hand. He had taken that hand in his almost an hour earlier in order to lead her away from the infirmary and out into the fresh night air. He hadn't let go of it since. Not only was this the first nightfall he'd experienced in what was the equivalent of weeks, but it was also the first evening of his brand new relationship with Janet Fraiser. He didn't have any intention of missing out on a single moment of either one.

Janet chuckled, laying her other hand on his arm and rubbing it softly. "You must have deserved it."

"Yeah, I did," he agreed, placing another gentle kiss on the top of her head.

"You don't still feel guilty, do you?" She tilted her head back to look at him. 

With the light of the moon shining on her face and making her eyes sparkle, Daniel felt that he'd never seen her look so beautiful. A slow grin spread across his face as he replied, "Not since that 'Daniel, you lovable idiot, all you had to do was ask' speech you gave me, no."

Janet laughed, and Daniel couldn't resist leaning his head down and kissing that lovely smile.

Feeling her shiver, he quickly ended the kiss and released her hand to drape his arm around her shoulders. "Are you cold?" he asked as he drew her close against his chest.

Janet sighed and snuggled up to him in contentment. "Not at all."

Daniel smiled as she wrapped her arm around his waist. He knew that she wouldn't be getting so comfortable if she planned on going back inside anytime soon. He took a deep breath of the clear mountain air and felt his entire body relax in peace and harmony with the world around him. 'Boy, life sure looks good when the woman you love is resting in your arms,' he thought as he focused his vision on one particular star.

It was the star that had started it all - the one whose regularly occurring geomagnetic storms had resulted in the Ancients deciding to try their hand at building a time machine. He thought of Malakai, the man who had caused the time loop in the hopes that he would somehow be able to complete the device himself and travel back in time just to be with his lost wife once more. The desperate man's words had struck a chord with Daniel as he, too, had lost his wife barely a year earlier. While the pain of that loss had not, and would not ever fully pass away, Daniel had come to realize that sometimes broken hearts are given a second chance at love and happiness. 'Sometimes opportunity knocks more than just once,' he thought, smiling faintly at the double meaning the words held in his case. He would always love Sha're and would forever cherish her memory, but his love for Janet was just as real and just as wonderful. 

More wondrous still was the fact that Janet felt the same, and had been surprised yet overjoyed by his confession of love for her earlier that day. How long she had been keeping her feelings for him bottled up inside he hadn't yet been able to coax her into telling him, but now that he knew that she was willing to take their relationship a step further, Daniel felt he was the happiest man alive. It would happen slowly, and there would be many challenges for them to face along the way, but he knew that if in the end she was by his side, it would be well worth it. 

"Thank you, Malakai," he breathed as his arms tightened around the precious gift they held, pressing her closer to his heart. "I wish the same for you someday."

  


THE END

  


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